Nightminds
by FreezeDriedRose
Summary: A Danny/Isaac fic. Also a Danny-finally-finds-out-about-the-whole-werewolf-thing fic. Begins shortly after the season 2 finale.


This was basically conceived and written in an afternoon. It's not very well thought out and I don't think I have the characterisations right at all, and, as usual, I had no idea how to end it, but the last thing I need is another half-finished fic gathering dust on my computer so I'm posting it as is.

The title, like my pen name, is borrowed from a random Missy Higgins song that just happened to pop into my head at the time.

* * *

_Werewolves, seriously?_

The idea rested awkwardly in Danny's mind as he tried to force it into place like a misshapen puzzle piece. On one level he knew it was true, he'd seen the irrefutable proof; seen Jackson's features distort in front of his eyes. But it was impossible, inconceivable. It just didn't make sense.

…Except it actually kind of did. It explained the increasingly strange happenings of the last few months better than any rational theory Danny had been able to come up with. He had known there was something seriously weird going on for a while now.

He'd noticed his best friend growing more and more distant, but it wasn't the first time that had happened, and he knew that pushing Jackson to talk would only ensure that he clammed up completely, so he'd left it alone for the most part. And yeah, he'd noticed Scott and Stiles acting oddly, but they'd always been odd so he didn't think anything of it.

But then Jackson had just… stopped acting like Jackson. And there were all those deaths that everyone had been told were animal attacks that suddenly turned out to be murders committed by Allison's aunt. And Jackson's obsession with that video. And that night at the club. …And then Matt had died. Danny still didn't know how to feel about that, and the things he knew now made it even more confusing. He hadn't known Matt all that well, but he'd liked him. And yes, there had been a small spark of attraction involved, but mostly he'd just enjoyed having another technophile to geek out with. He'd thought Matt's obsession with Allison was a little weird, maybe borderline stalker-ish, but now it looked like he didn't know the half of it.

Even after all that, it was Jackson's words before the championship lacrosse game that had truly terrified him. That was when he'd finally realised that Jackson was embroiled in something seriously messed up, and damn it he was supposed to be there to pull his friend back whenever he was in danger of throwing himself over the edge, but he couldn't do that if Jackson refused to tell him what the hell was going on.

For way too long he'd thought that was the last conversation he'd ever have with his best friend. The memory of standing frozen on the field when he'd heard the shouts and realised that Jackson was on the ground and wasn't getting up would be burned into his mind for the rest of his life.

But Jackson was alive.

Yeah, Jackson was alive, and that was all that really mattered. Everything else… well, he was sure he'd find some way to deal with it. Eventually. He could handle it if it meant that his best friend was alright.

_Werewolves. Ok._

Behind him, the door of the ruined Hale house creaked open. He expected it to be Jackson, or Lydia, or maybe even Stiles, since he was apparently the only other completely normal human caught up in this. (And the world had really gone to hell if he was thinking of Stiles as "normal.") However, when he turned towards the sound, he found Isaac stepping tentatively through the doorway.

"Hey," the werewolf greeted him softly.

"Hey."

"Um… Jackson wasn't sure if you'd want to see him right now, so I said I'd come and make sure you were ok."

Danny laughed humourlessly. "I'm not sure if 'ok' is a word I'd used right now, but I'm… dealing."

"Well, that's good, I guess."

"I… I don't think I'm ready to come back inside yet, though."

"Fair enough." Isaac hesitated. "…Do you mind if I stay out here too? It's just that it's probably not exactly safe to be out here on your own when we know a whole pack of alphas have us in their sights."

"Why exactly are you all still staying here? Shouldn't you go somewhere they don't already know about?"

"According to Boyd and Erica they already know about all the places we've hidden before." (The two missing beta werewolves had shown up shaken but relatively unharmed the night before, bearing threats from the alpha pack that Danny didn't yet have a thorough enough understanding of werewolf politics to make sense of.) "And Derek wants to stay somewhere he knows well enough to defend effectively rather than risk being attacked on unfamiliar territory."

Danny nodded his understanding, and Isaac sat down quietly on the step beside him.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Isaac said after a moment. "I got so caught up in the idea of not having to be afraid of… of people anymore that I ended up neck deep in it before I even realised what I'd signed up for. But you're not stuck with this the way I am. You could still walk away if you wanted to."

"From what I understand, you could have walked away. You could have tried to leave with Boyd and Erica. But you didn't. I'm not going anywhere either."

They settled into a companionable silence, and Danny was surprised to find that the raging whirlwind of thoughts rattling around in his head calmed a little as well.

* * *

With the menace of the alpha pack constantly looming over them, Danny, Stiles and Lydia were made to swear that they wouldn't go anywhere alone, and that they would try to keep at least one werewolf with them whenever that was possible. Scott did briefly attempt to persuade Allison to make the same promise, but a demonstration of a couple of her scariest archery skills convinced him to allow her to protect herself.

Since Jackson was spending most of his time with Lydia, (which Danny didn't mind at all; he was glad that they'd finally wised up to the fact they really did love each other underneath the personas they projected to the rest of the world,) Danny usually ended up hanging around with Boyd or Isaac, but mostly Isaac. Danny wasn't sure why it worked out that way, but he was kind of glad it did. Isaac was surprisingly easy to get along with for someone who was usually so reserved. As well as having lacrosse in common, they quickly discovered a mutual love of comic books, and Isaac at least pretended to look interested when Danny lapsed into technobabble.

All the teenaged werewolves, (except Scott, who was carefully avoiding Allison,) ended up joining the lunch table that Danny, Jackson and Lydia shared with a handful of other students. Those who weren't in on Beacon Hills' big secret didn't really think twice about the new additions seeing as they had all recently undergone a mysterious but undeniable increase in badassness. Well, that and the fact that most of the boys present were only too pleased to have an opportunity to ogle Erica.

One particular lunchtime, a couple of weeks after the big revelation, Danny began to recognise the signs that Lydia was about to embark on one of her matchmaking crusades. They seemed to occur every few months, and always made Danny glad that the only other gay guys Lydia knew were his ex-boyfriends. Since Scott and Allison were still hung up on each other, Stiles was still hung up on Lydia, and Erica and Boyd had seemed suspiciously close since their encounter with the alphas, Isaac was Lydia's unfortunate target. She began to ruthlessly interrogate him about what qualities he found attractive in girls.

Isaac was quiet for a moment, and Danny thought he saw a brief expression of indecision cross the werewolf's face before it changed to one of resolution and he opened his mouth to reply. "Oh, um… actually, I'm gay." Isaac seemed surprised to hear the words coming out of his own mouth in a way that made Danny wonder if he'd ever actually said them out loud before.

Of course, Murphy's Law reared its ugly head and the statement coincided with a lull in conversation so that the entire table heard it. There was a gleeful glint in Lydia's eyes as she glanced between Isaac and Danny, but Danny shook his head to discourage her. Fortunately, she took the hint and smoothly changed the subject, and everyone else tactfully continued as if nothing had happened. Danny studied Isaac carefully. He appeared somewhat shocked, but also maybe a little relieved. In any case, he didn't seem to regret his abrupt confession. Danny gave him a small understanding smile and returned to his conversation with Jackson.

Danny didn't get the chance to talk to Isaac alone until after school when they met at the Mahealani house to work on an assignment together. At first he wasn't sure whether he should mention what had happened at lunch or not. He was more than willing if Isaac wanted to talk about it, but on the other hand he didn't want to push the other boy into a conversation he might not be ready for. In the end, Isaac made the decision for him.

"You're wondering why I didn't tell you, aren't you."

"Honestly, yeah, but I respect that it's no one's business but yours and it's totally up to you who you tell and when."

"It's because of my dad," Isaac explained quietly. "I couldn't tell anyone before because if he'd found out he would have killed me." The complete certainty in his voice chilled Danny to the bone. "And even after he was gone, I was so used to keeping it a secret, and it wasn't exactly at the forefront of my mind with everything else that was happening, but then today when it just kind of came up in conversation I figured… why not? It's not as if it matters anymore. Even if someone does have a problem with it, I'm stronger than them now. They can't hurt me."

* * *

After that, there was a marked change in their relationship. Isaac quickly became one of Danny's closest friends. Jackson would always be his best friend, there was no question about that, but Isaac had fallen into a place in Danny's heart he'd never before realised existed. He assumed it was because he'd never really had a gay friend before; not one he was all that close to at least. Jackson understood being a guy, and Lydia understood being attracted to guys, but Isaac was the first real friend he'd had who understood both those things.

Danny and Isaac gradually found themselves sharing things they'd never really talked about with anyone before, like how Danny had caught his last boyfriend cheating on him, and how Isaac had tried desperately in freshman year to convince himself he had a crush on Lydia. Some of the things Isaac told him about the late Mr Lahey made Danny seriously wonder if, in a world where so many things he'd thought to be fantasy had become reality, there might be some way to raise the dead so he could kill the man all over again.

On a lighter note, Danny found that it was cool to have someone to go clubbing with. Jackson had accompanied him to Jungle the first couple of times, but seeing his straight best friend get hit on considerably more often than he himself did was more than a little annoying, especially when said friend had an ego the size of Jupiter, so he'd mostly gone alone since then.

It was a little less cool to have a friend who was perceptive enough to notice when he was strategically avoiding his ex, who was once again staring directly at Danny while he danced with some ridiculously attractive guy.

"I know he's trying to make me jealous," Danny confessed to Isaac. "And I know that by letting it get to me I'm just giving him what he wants, but it still…"

"Sucks?"

"Yeah."

"Well how about we make him jealous instead?" Isaac suggested with a mischievous grin, taking Danny's hand and leading him away from the bar.

One thing was for sure, Isaac didn't do things by halves. His smouldering gaze and sensual movements were making it increasingly difficult for Danny to remember that they were friends, nothing more than that. And if their bodies stayed pressed together like this much longer it was going to become glaringly obvious that what he was feeling for Isaac right now was anything but platonic. Isaac's lips hovered millimetres away from his own and it took all his willpower to stop himself from closing the gap. He hurriedly forced himself to pull away and headed for the exit, muttering some excuse about needing fresh air.

Outside, Danny took deliberate, slow, deep breaths of the cool night air in an attempt to calm his racing heart. It couldn't have been more than a minute or two before he heard tentative footsteps approaching from behind.

"I'm sorry," Isaac began. "I know I went too far. I know you'll probably never see me that way, but that's ok. I'd rather be your friend than nothing at all."

Danny turned to face Isaac, who was staring down at his shoes. "How… how long have you…?"

"I don't know exactly. A long time. Since before I became a werewolf, before I was ready to accept the way I felt. But you don't have to worry about it. I won't try anything like that again if you don't want me to."

"And what if I do want you to?"

Isaac looked up, stunned. His mouth opened slightly as he struggled to formulate a response. He was saved from having to think of one when Danny's lips pressed firmly against his own. He melted into the kiss, his arms snaking around Danny's waist and holding on tightly as if he was afraid the other boy might disappear. They continued to hold on to each other after the need for oxygen forced their lips apart.

"Just for the record," Danny said breathlessly, "I do want you to."

* * *

A/N: I'd just like to point out, since a few people have put this on Story Alert, that I have marked it as complete and at present I have no plans to continue it. I have too many WIPs already. (And on that note, to anyone who might be reading my unfinished Glee fics, I have not forgotten them, I am currently working on the final part of Nothing More, it's just going very slowly.)


End file.
